Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino addresses National Press Club amid superannuation call

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino has ruled out lifting the superannuation guarantee following the collapse of industry giants Shield and First Guardian Master Funds, as the government faces pressure to open up access amid the cost of living crisis.

Mr Mulino, who is addressing the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, said the collapse of the two funds in 2025, leaving about $1bn in super in doubt, was “shocking”.

“Almost 12,000 Australian individual members of super funds and their families lost large parts, or in some cases, all of their super savings,” Mr Mulino told ABC Radio National Breakfast.

Mr Mulino slammed the “predatory and inappropriate” behaviour of the sector, but ruled out any plans to lift the superannuation guarantee – the amount employers are required to pay into employee’s funds – from 12 to 15 per cent.

“Getting it (the guarantee) to 12 per cent was the work of Labor governments over a very long period of time” and fought “tooth and nail” by the opposition, he said.

“That is now putting people in a very strong position, and the (superannuation guarantee) at 12 per cent now across a person’s entire working life will mean that so many people will retire with very strong balances, and we’re already seeing that play out in the system,” he said.

“It will mean, at a macro level, that our super system takes a lot of pressure off our pension system, and we’re seeing that through the numbers already and through the projections of our pension system into the future, but it also provides individuals with that additional security.

It comes as One Nation calls for access to superannuation, which is intended for retirement, to be opened up as a way of dealing with rising costs.

Treasury spokesman Barnaby Joyce told News24 superannuation was not “a national asset”.

“It’s your money, your private money (and) in a time of privation, you should get better access to it,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure that (when) you need access to your money because you can’t pay your groceries, or you’re going to get booted out of your house, that it’s not as arduous as what it’s been made”.

Asked about the impact of restricting compound interest, Mr Joyce said “if you lose your house, that costs you a bit of money in the long run”.

He admitted people could not be restricted to using their superannuation on housing.

“Well, if you can’t pay your rent, that would sound like a pretty good place to spend it, wouldn’t it?” he said.